It wouldn't do
Text
It wouldn't do
by John Kay
But,
She said,
I suppose it wouldn't do
For everyone to be the same now,
Would it.
No,
I said,
There'd be less
Interesting people around,
Wouldn't there.
Fewer interesting people,
She said,
But I suppose it wouldn't do
For everyone to speak the same now,
Would it.
Task
Decide if the statements are true or false.
Notes
This clever and amusing poem was written by John Kay, who was the winner of the White Adder International EFL Poetry Competition. He teaches English and trains teachers in Bournemouth, England.
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
Comments
I liked this amusing poem a
I liked this amusing poem a lot. Plus it's great to hear someone's reading it in a way it needs to be read! Thank you!
nice!!
nice!!
It wouldn't work?
Hello British Council,
Could you please, give me any other way to say "it wouldn't do" as I'm not quite sure to understand it?
By the way, the last two lines of the text aren't recorded.
Thanks a lot for your kind reply,
Oscar
Hello Oscar, Thanks for
Hello Oscar,
Thanks for telling me about the problem with the audio. I will fix it as soon as possible.
'It wouldn't do' means something a bit similar to 'it would be a bad situation'. Does that help?
Best wishes,
Adam
The LearnEnglish Team
affirmative
Hello Adam,
Does "It would do" mean something a bit similar to 'it would be a good situation' or that kind of sentence is only used as a negative one? I must say that this is my first time with "It wouldn't do".
May I say: It would do for everyone to know all the English grammar rules in order to understand this language?
Hoping to hear from you,
Oscar
Hello Oscar, That's an
Hello Oscar,
That's an excellent question!
No, people don't usually use 'it would do' in the same way. I should say as well that 'it wouldn't do' is not a common expression and you probably shouldn't use it until you are familiar with how it's used.
Best wishes,
Adam
The LearnEnglish Team
nice
nice
i wish to have more
i wish to have more
I like it.
I like it.
Hello, I am not sure if I
Hello, I am not sure if I understood the deep meaning of this poem. But It's good one. Thank you guys for helping us with your professional supplies.